“Never throw the football across your body in the middle of the field.”

According to my husband that’s what every football player learns at the pee-wee level. So why did Brett Favre, one of the best of the best (and definitely one of the cutest), have to do just that on January 24th during the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints?

When he broke that very elementary rule, he changed the course of my life.Or at least a few hours of one weekend of my life.

However that all changed when Brett Favre threw that interception. Because when Brett Favre threw that interception, the New Orleans Saints went on to win the game. And which ever team wins the NFC Championship game, goes on to the Super Bowl. And suddenly Harry Connick Jr had a little bit more than 500 women to be excited about … his New Orleans Saints were playing in the Super Bowl for the very first time in history!!

Now, Mr. Harry Connick Jr is being ever so gracious to still play at Blissdom; however, the schedule had to be rearranged a bit. And so thanks to Mr. Brett Favre, I (along with many others) were asking & tweeting the question:

This time next week I’ll be at Blissdom ’10 with 499 other women!! I know I’ve talked about it alot this month, and I still have a week to go, plus recaps of the weekend so if you’re not into all the Blissdom talk, I’m so sorry!! But stick with me … please!!

But just as excited as I am about meeting a bunch of new, wonderful women I am thrilled with who I am going with!! On Thursday afternoon I’ll be hitting the road with 3 women that “I love”!

My sister, Simply Staci, will be picking me up. I typically just call her Staci!! We had plenty of fights growing up, but I love hanging out with her now & am so blessed to have her as my sister. And my kids are incredibly blessed to have her as their Aunt (Oh – and on a completely different note, her students are so lucky to have her as their Science Teacher … Teacher of the Year at her school!!)

Then we’ll be meeting up with ohAmanda. I usually leave off the ‘oh’ when talking to her! I’ve known her since diapers – seriously!! She was probably out of them, but I wasn’t it. I was like 2 years old when our families started going to the same church. We’ve worked together, played together, ministered together, and now we’re both married, parenting, blogging & tweeting together.

And we’ll be meeting at The Violet Fig‘s house. And yep, you guessed we usually don’t go around calling her the Fig either! We typically just stick to Becky! Becky’s family was really smart when they moved from Florida to Georgia & started coming to the same church that myself, Staci & Amanda went to:) She came to us in the 6th grade! And I’m so glad she did!! She passionate, fun & keeps me on my toes:)

We’ll be really sad that our other girls Kristen and Mandy won’t be with us, but we’re hoping Harry will make us feel better – heehee!

But these five girls are my best friends. We have litterally ‘grown up’ together in every sense of what that means. We can laugh together, cry together, talk or not talk at all … and still be able to finish each other’s sentences. So, while I’m super excited to be at a conference with 499 wonderful women, I’m even more excited that three of them will be my Sisterchicks!

Oh – And if you’re thinking this is the MOST RANDOM PICTURE EVER … you’re right! So much so, that I named it that!! Normally there’s 6 of us in a group shot, so in order to get just four of us … you get random!!

Seriously. I have the same face every morning! And I don’t think I’m very good at putting any of it together or any of it on!!

Case in point: On my WEDDING day, I forgot to put on lipstick. And NO ONE said anything!! Either because a) they are totally not use to seeing me in lipstick and so they didn’t know I wasn’t missing any or b) they just figured I never wear any so maybe I didn’t want to that day either. But HELLO!! It was my wedding! According to my pictures, I should have had some lipstick on!!! But, obviously, ten years later & I’ve moved on … sort of.

So while, I may be boring in my personal selection, I really do LOVE the little bit of make-up I use.

I have it narrowed down to 3 items. Yes 3. Do you hate me? Or think I’m just insane (and Staci, you can’t answer that!!)?

1. La Bella Donna Pressed Mineral Foundation – I’ve become a firm believer of good ingredients in skincare. But you can’t stop there. If I’m going to use good ingredients in my cleansers & moisturizer then I don’t want to ruin it by putting not-so-good ingredients on the first thing that hits my skin. This brand doesn’t have any FD&C dyes, oil, talc, alcohol or fragrance. Plus it has Titanium Dioxide which is a natural / non-chemical sun block (SPF 20). (Can you tell I’ve heard that &/or said that on more than one occasion? I think I’ve said before that my sister-in-law has an all-natural skincare business so she teaches me, and I listen!)

2. La Bella Donna Vision of Mineral Lights- this is a quad compact of compressed minerals – I use the colors as eye-shadow and as a bronzer/blush. I love it because of all the same reasons I do the Mineral Foundation, but also because it feels like I’m multi-tasking!!

3. Cover Girl Mascara – Yep, just the good old kind from the drug store. Because I can’t find any natural Mascara that IS waterproof. And I’m not going to mess around with non-waterproof mascara!!

Of course I have a couple of other little goodies in there, like tweezers, a couple of make-up brushes, a buki brush (which I love, love, love!), and a sample or two of lipsticks that I thought I might actually use but never did! But in my everyday make-up bag … that’s it!

3. Cross-Country Skiing – Oh my gosh. Have you ever done this? I remember making the mistake of taking a cross-country path in Colorado once … I mean that’s like walking with 8′ shoes! (I guess because it is!)

4. Curling – consists of two teams pushing 19.1 kilogram stones towards a series of concentric rings or circles on ice. Pushing stones? That seems rather Flintstones-ish to me, but it began 500 years ago so I guess it was!

5. Luge- Racing on an open, fiberglass sleds luge racers lay on their back & steer using their legs & shoulders. They brake by sitting up and all events are timed to the thousandth of a second. That means they’re going really, really fast!!

6. Nordic Combined – This sport combines a ski jumping portion followed by a free-technique cross-country race. Using pack-racing strategies, the athletes cluster into “trains” that chase down other athlete trains! That just sounds like a game my 4-year-old would make up!!

7. Short Track – Speed skating with tight corners that make it difficult to maintain control. Otherwise, skate at your own risk because the person next to you might very well take you out!

8. Skeleton – I’m sorry, but I don’t want any part of an event with a name like that!!

9. Ski Jumping- Athletes ski down a long ramp and launch into air at speeds up to 95 kilometers per hour. Or 59 miles per hour … through the air. Flying. Off a ramp!!

10. Figure Skating – Awe it sounds so peaceful & beautiful to watch … doesn’t it?!! I know it’s probably just as dangerous as the others, but it definitely sounds prettier!

So there’s the info at a glance. You’re officially ready for the 2010 Olympic Games … Go USA!!

And I think I’ve heard the same message every time. I’ve always heard that we have seasons in our lives. There will be good times and there will be bad. Loved ones will be born and loved ones will die. There is a time to cry and there is a time to dance.

Today, in church we looked deeper at this verse. And for the first time verse 11 really stuck out to me.

It reads:

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

We will have seasons on this earth. And it’s ok if we don’t like the bad ones. Because we weren’t created for this Earth.God created us for Eternity. He put Eternity in our hearts … not a good and everyday perfect place here on Earth.

We’re only two weeks away from Blissdom ’10 & it’s getting exciting!!! On Thursday night, my roadmates/ room-mates/ Sisterchicks – ohAmanda, Simply Staci & The Violet Fig (4 out of the 6) met up for a Pre-Blissdom meeting. It took us three locations before we found free WiFi and then another hour before we knew what time we’d hit the road!! After that it just became alot of chit chat & tweeting. Honestly I’m not sure if we accomplished anything, but it was still fun!! And at we at least know we’ll be hitting the road by 2:30pm!!

I am still reading some great posts each week to help get us ready. Here’s a few that I came across this week.

Blissdom Blogging Conference – What I’m Packing by Mom’s Travel Tales - This is fun, she lays out everything she’s packing (or planning to pack) and you have to look at the great dress AND SHOES that she’s going to wear for Harry!! And it gets better, she added a MckLinky so you can see what some other bloggers will be wearing too!!

We’ve had a “bed dilemma” in Evan’s room for several months now. Once he outgrew his Toddler Bed I started looking around for beds but just didn’t find anything I was really too excited about. And really didn’t want to spend the money on a bed at that particular moment. We had an extra Twin Mattress from when we had an extra guest bedroom so I ended up just putting the mattress on the floor and that’s basically how he’s slept for several months now. It doesn’t look all that cool but one plus is that I don’t have to worry about him falling off at night!!

He’s been super interested in building forts recently. Every spare sheet in the house can usually be found in his room draping from one wall to the next. Well my mom took note & just brought over the coolest thing!! It’s a BED TENT!! So, not only does it bring some character to his poor little mattress laying on the floor but gone are the sheets without taking away the fun!!

Evan is totally digging this!! I know he’ll be excited to sleep in it tonight! And for whatever reason he usually sleeps better & longer on nights we have a fort up!! I guess it makes his room darker & cozier! He’s already been up there for over an hour and counting!!! Perfect indoor fun for a cold & wet January day!!

Indoor Fun is linked to Amy’s Finer Things Friday.
And bad, blurry pictures is not a Finer Thing!!! But I can’t find my camera so this blurry cellphone picture is all I’ve got:(

a substance, usually a mixture of fuel and oxidizer, for propelling a rocket.

4.

a compressed inert gas that serves to dispense the contents of an aerosol container when the pressure is released.

So all that sounds fine & dandy to me until I think about a can of Cooking Spray. Because yes, “propellant” is an ingredient in our Cooking Sprays. It’s listed on the can in my pantry. It fits definition #4 ~ a compressed inert gas that serves to dispense the contents of an aerosol container when the pressure is released.

Sometime last year, I started using just a regular water spritzer (sorry for the lack of terminology, but think hair salon) filled with Olive Oil to spray any pots/pans before cooking. It worked ok. But it sprayed more in clumps rather than a nice mist that the aerosol containers give.

Fast forward to October when I hosted a Pampered Chef Party & I noticed this fine little thingy (pictured above) in their catalog. It’s a Kitchen Spritzer. It uses a pump handle ~ not aerosol ~ to give a mist!! It’s refillable so I just pour our olive oil in, pump several pumps, and spray!! I love it!! It really works just as good as the aerosol container minus the “compressed inert gas to dispense the contents” … yuck!

In full disclosure ~ I am a Pampered Chef Consultant, but I promise that has nothing to do with why I love this product and definitely not why I’m blogging about it! In fact, I’m not going to tell you if you’re interested to come shop with me … but I will say if you’re interested in the Spritzer then you should find a rep in your area!! And, just as a friendly FYI, next month is Stoneware month (which I’ve become a once hated, now loving Stoneware kind of girl) … it’s a great time to host a Cooking Party or a Catalog/Online Party because people love their Stoneware … which means you could rack up some host rewards!!

I said last week that I have recently become a big fan of Butternut Squash. It’s so sweet & yummy to my taste buds, I just love it!! I could honestly just cut it up, bake it till it becomes tender & enjoy!! As you already know, I do like it as a Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese.

But, I also really, really like it as Butternut Squash “Fries”. I got this recipe from the Biggest Loser Cookbook. And it’s husband AND kiddo approved!!

Cut both ends off the squash. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the rind from the squash until you’ve peeled away the pale orange outside layers. Discard the rind. Cut the squash in half lengthwise. With a spoon, scrape out the seeds & discard them. Cut 8oz (about 2 cups) of ‘sticks’. (Refrigerate the remaining squash for another recipe).

Place the squash sticks in a medium mixing bowl. Add the oil, paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, onion powder, and salt. Toss to coat. Transfer the squash to a baking sheet so the sticks are in a single layer and do not touch.

Bake, turning the squash about every 5 minutes for 22-25 minutes, or until the outsides are crisp and the insides are tender when tested with a fork. Serve immediately.